Think it’s cold now? Wait till February
IF you’d been looking forward to packing away your thermals, you might have to put your plans on ice for the foreseeable future.
Forecasters have warned of polar temperatures next month after freezing fog gripped much of the country yesterday.
In London’s Hyde Park, swimmers smashed through a frozen Serpentine lake yesterday morning for a dip in the icy waters.
Meanwhile one runner who braved the cold in Richmond Park, south west London, was rewarded with a picture of a stag grazing on the frosty grass.
Parts of Cambridgeshire including Ely and Whittlesey were also covered with frost and icy fog.
The conditions sparked travel warnings after two people died in a crash on the M40 southbound yesterday morning. The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for fog in the South East and the Midlands this morning, warning that visibility could fall as low as 50m.
It urged travellers to plan for slower journeys by car, disruption to buses, trains and flights.
The mercury plunged to minus 9.7C (14.5F) at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire yesterday and the subzero temperatures are set to continue this week.
Conditions in the North, Scotland and Wales will remain milder and could reach highs of 11C (52F).
However there is a chance temperatures could plummet further next month due to the ‘polar vortex’ – the high-altitude winds that keep cold air trapped in the North Pole.
The winds could weaken next week, causing Arctic air to rush towards Britain. The Met Office said the polar vortex could weaken so much that it triggers a ‘sudden stratospheric warming’ (SSW) – a phenomenon in which the North Pole’s air suddenly warms up. Meteorologist Simon Partridge said there is a ‘small chance’ the UK will see cold weather as a result.